Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 00:49:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: Pierre Phaneuf <pp AT dilu DOT ml DOT org>
Reply-To: pierre AT tycho DOT com
To: "Alaric B. Williams" <alaric AT abwillms DOT demon DOT co DOT uk>
cc: "Mike A. Harris" <mharris AT blackwidow DOT saultc DOT on DOT ca>, opendos AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: LISP programmers
In-Reply-To: <863916862.1116990.0@abwillms.demon.co.uk>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.95.970518004737.24173F-100000@dilu.ml.org>
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On Sun, 18 May 1997, Alaric B. Williams wrote:

> > > A LISP programmer knows the value of everything, but the cost of nothing.
> 
> For those not in the know, in LISP, all expressions return a value;
> bit like in C or C++ where you only have functions, not "procedures",
> except that in C/C++ you have constructs like for that do not evaluate
> to anything. In Lisp, everything has a value. The bit about the
> "cost" stems from the myth that LISP is slow :-)

Memory usage and the cost of DRAM. :-) From the Jargon File:

   All LISP functions and programs are expressions that return
   values; this, together with the high memory utilization of LISPs,
   gave rise to Alan Perlis's famous quip (itself a take on an Oscar
   Wilde quote) that "LISP programmers know the value of everything
   and the cost of nothing".

*My* signature is also a quote taken from the Jargon File (originally from
a book by Dijkstra).

Pierre Phaneuf

"The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be
regarded as a criminal offense." - Edsger W. Dijkstra.